Marital rape: Govt to raise age from 15 to 18 yrs

New Delhi: Government has fixed 18 years
as the maximum age till which forceful sexual intercourse with
the wife can be deemed as rape but the NCW which had proposed
inclusion of marital rape as a punishable offence in the IPC
today said it would have preferred doing away with age limit.

The proposal for amendment to the rape laws in the IPC
to include marital rape was sent to the government on August
18 this year, NCW chairperson Girija Vyas told reporters here.

Under the present law, sexual intercourse by a man
with his wife, who should not be under 15 years of age, is not
rape.

The Commission has emphasised that this `exception` to
Section 375 of IPC should be deleted thereby bringing marital
rape under the ambit of the crime of rape, she said.

A high-powered committee chaired by the Secretary Home
said that the relevant section in the IPC would be modified to
raise the age to 18 years.

The NCW, Vyas, said would have preferred if no age
limit was mentioned.

"However, as a first step it is heartening that the
age limit has been increased from 15-18," she said.

The Commission also suggested a rehabilitation scheme
for acid attack victims and accordingly has formulated a
scheme for relief and rehabilitation of offences by acids
on the lines of those relating to rape victims.